Customer Reviews

The Harder They Fall: Celebrities Tell Their Real-Life Stories of Addiction and Recovery

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You don't have to be interested in reading celebrity stories to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it. I found the book really hard to put down. Because there are so many great short stories, I was able to get a broad view of the disease's nature. Also, I am very impressed with the honesty and vulnerability of the people who shared their stories. They are very human, beautiful and courageous.

This book lays entertaining, healing tracks down in your mind!. Even if you're not a big reader, you'll have no trouble getting through it. It's a gripping collection of tales of the most fascinating, diverse celebrities you'd ever want to know, and I think their experiences are identifiable with all human turmoil. They reveal secrets and break through taboos, which is why you'll never forget what they say.

Julie Merle, New York City

Gary Stromberg really tells some very compelling stories of some of the biggest names in pop culture. This book offers hope, some laughs and great insights into an insidious disease that effects millions. I highly recommend this book!

Picked it up last week and must have finished this book in two or three days. I loved the Dr. John piece. Great read!

It seems like you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on a television without hearing of some new celebrity being involved with drugs. Why with all of their success does it take drugs for them to get through their lives? And in the news you don't hear about followups. What happens to these people after they get out of their court ordered treatment (or jail)?

In this book the authors have managed to get an extraordinary collection of people to talk about their lives under drugs and how they were able to beat their habbit. In each case it was clearly a struggle, it was not easy, but they managed.

I say the collection of people is extraordinary because it contains far more than just the musicians that seem to get all the press. It includes sports figures, writers, comedians, and actors. The stories leave me with a feeling of both sadness and hope. That these people can not only accomplish what they did but that they are now will to share their experiences with the rest of us speaks great things about them.

Highly recommended.

The collaborative work of Gary Stromberg & Jane Merrill, The Harder They Fall: Celebrities Tell Their Real-Life Stories Of Addiction And Recovery is a compendium of autobiographical accounts of self-help and recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction told by a range of readily recognized men and women who range from singer and songwriter Paul Williams, to comedian Richard Pryor, to actor Malcom McDowell, to musician Alice Cooper, to U.S. Congressman Jim Ramstad, and sixteen others. All of these stories are revealed with candor, insight, humor, humility, and hope. The Harder They Fall is a unique anthology and should be available to everyone (especially those struggling with their own addictions) in the community through their local public library.

The book is awesome with real, sometimes hard to read stories from well known or famous people talking about the the worst parts of their addictions. However, each person whose story is told has been clean and sober for at least 10 years. They are high profile actors, musicians, etc, willing to tell their stories in hope they can reach others who may think their addiction is because they are bad or just don't want to get better. These real stories, of stars we know, tell the truth and some have probably been in worse conditions then one could imagine, but survived and live meaningful lives. It is very inspriational.

"The Harder They Fall", by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill, is a collection of real-life stories, by celebrities, about addiction and recovery. These twenty-three anecdotes of experience, strength, and hope are honestly shared and leave no doubt that this debilitating illness cannot only be overcome, but it can also give one purpose and meaning in life when it is overcome.

Recovering alcoholics and addicts have to deal with their addiction every single day of their lives, one day at a time. That's why congressman Jim Ramstadt was told, "...the only time you're going to be a recovered alcoholic is when they put you in the casket..." We can recover, but we'll never be recovered. Writer Annie Lamott was told that we addicts have a fifty-five-gallon drum of shame and self-loathing and nastiness that we want to tip over and get rid of as soon as we start to recover. But it doesn't work that way. We can only take out a teaspoon at a time with prayer, meditation, and working the steps.

The story I related to the most was by Dick Beardsley who famously battled Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon only to lose by seconds. A series of accidents left him addicted to opiate pain medication. His addiction became so powerful that this otherwise, upstanding, law-abiding, beloved member of the community began forging prescriptions until he was caught by the feds. He was initially very resistant to treatment because he falsely believed he could beat his addiction with willpower, something a runner of his stature would have no shortage of. But if it was about willpower, he never would have become addicted in the first place.

My favorite story, and the one I was most surprised to see in this book, was by broadcaster Glenn Beck. He spoke about overcoming one obstacle that I've recently come to realize is key to my recovery and success in life - overcoming fear. He says, "If you just drop your fear of something that you think you can't face, then it isn't real anymore. It may look real but it's not. You'll come through the fear and it's beautiful." He says we're all alike in hiding something. Whatever it is, we think if everyone knew it, then we'd be thought of as inferior and hated. But since everyone is hiding something out of fear, it doesn't make us inferior, just human. If you hide something out of fear, that card can always be played against you. It's best to get it out, and deal with it, so that it no longer has power.

These stories, also be Alice Cooper, Steve Earle, Mariette Hartley, Paul Williams, Malachy McCourt, Richard Pryor, Grace Slick and many more, are just plain beautiful. The ability of the human spirit to overcome such a dreadful, often fatal illness is inspiring and fills me with much hope. And according to a recent survey, there are 22.6 million Americans suffering from addiction who would do well to read this book.

David Allan Reeves
Author of "Running Away From Me"

This book is a compelling read for anyone interested in addiction or who may have addiction issues of their own. the humility and gratitude these people have is nothing more than a blessing!

Great because it focuses much of each celebrity's story on the solution and
how each stays sober one day at a time.